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The tear in space seemed to spread out even more like cracking glass as swirling, misty darkness poured out from the hole of reality like dry ice. From the rift emerged multiple black wisps of spirits—their ethereal forms composed of shifting shadows and translucent bodily design. Descending from the sky, they began feasting on spacetime itself as if it was tangible, but in truth, they were eating away at Elizabeth's Antimana.
"Why does this always happen to me?!" Elizabeth turned tail and ran into the forest, glancing behind her to see the Qlippoth devour her Antimana to restore reality, but they wouldn't stop just there, another group decided to follow her. "I'd rather deal with Hexbeasts than these guys!" Their forms shimmered with an illogical dark glow, emitting a cold and deathly aura that would make even the strongest of men tremble with fear, but this was the life of the Kaizamei.
To understand the Kaizamei, one would need to understand their nature.
Across the vast expanse of the Halvrendor, the Kaizamei were a rare breed. They were deformities of reality, born to oppose the structure of the world; Mana.
Naturally, the Manaless were hated by creation and were errors in the world not meant to be born, though this wasn't their fault by any means. It was evolution.
Mana in of itself was information, but that information could be changed over time. Mana encompassed everything, but too much of it proved detrimental to other lifeforms with a nucleus, and to the world itself, creating a variety of occurrences known as "Informational Phenomenon", like Mana Cancer, Hexbeasts, and a variety of other harmful events.
With this in mind, Mana needed a way to form equilibrium. Similar to how humans evolved over time in different environments, obtaining certain traits to help them in the long run, mana did the same; it created another variety of itself known as Antimana, the force that opposed creation. Magicians learned how to use Antimana for anti-magical spells, which proved beneficial across history.
Similar to how mana works, Antimana also had its own backlash. Too much of it could cause Anti Paradox; a phenomenon similar to mana cancer where too much Antimana proves dangerous to other lifeforms. When another person is exposed to large portions of Antimana, their information is overwritten into negative information, causing the complete collapse of the mind, soul, and nucleus, effectively erasing them from history.
Information encompasses all of reality, so having your information converted into negative information is essentially making it to where you never existed.
Atop of this, the Manaless were always at risk of attracting the Qlippoth spirits which were attracted to such opposing forces.
There was a reason why Elizabeth hated her life, and it now started to show.
"I'll have to drive them away! I can't risk Kyto getting caught up in this!" As Elizabeth ran through the forest, three other Qlippoth spirits chased after her, phasing through trees which caused them to rot away in the aftermath. Their glowing red eyes fixated on her with an unnatural hunger as they drifted forward, stretching out their hands.
"Hup!" In a turn of events, Elizabeth leaped into the air, gaining distance from the Qlippoth as she cocked her arm back. With her incredible precision and physical strength augmented by her willpower, Elizabeth threw a powerful punch, launching a massive shockwave from the vibrations of her fist.
The shockwave crossed vast distances before multiple others followed suit, aiming for the three spirits of oblivion.
But to her surprise, it passed through them harmlessly as their incorporeal forms seemed to absorb and dissipate the shockwave as they continued their eerie approach.
"W-What?!?" Punching at them again in desperation, the Qlippoth weaved and twisted around her attacks as their ghostly bodies bent and shifted like smoke in the wind.
Despite her best efforts, her strikes seemed to have no effect on their ethereal forms. Qlippoth were part of Oblivion, by nature they were pure, empty nothingness.
As one of the spirits darted closer, it opened its large skeletal jaws, reaching out its shadowy hands toward Elizabeth with great speed. Shivers went up the Kaizamei's spine as she infused her fist with her anti-energy, throwing a direct punch at one of them.
"Chaaa!" With a frontal blow, she bashed the spirit of nothingness in the face, making contact with its impossible form, but mere contact wasn't enough. It merely prolonged the inevitable as the other two Qlippoth circled around her and attacked from behind.
"Oh… crap!" Turning around in midair, she attempted to dodge, but the spirit she punched managed to grip her arm and slowly sap away her Antimana. "Aaaghh… oh no! Let me go!" Glaring at the Qlippoth, she gritted her teeth in frustration as the other two manifested dark, shadowy blades in their hands.
"No, no no!" Struggling to break free, it was too late. A loud, gut-wrenching sound echoed through the sky as Elizabeth felt a sharp, searing pain in her stomach. Looking down with puzzled eyes, two of the spirits pierced through her gut. "…!" Blood sprayed from her lips as she coughed violently, staggering in midair.
The one holding her dropped the Kaizamei to the ground, letting her collide with the solid terrain. Standing to her feet with wide eyes, Elizabeth staggered forward, clutching her wound as the dark properties of the spirit's blade spread through her body. "I-I have to… get away…" Her vision blurred as blood continued to flow with each step, desperate to escape.
"Kaaah haw haw!" The three Qlippoth emitted a haunting, otherworldly laugh that echoed through the sky. Their voices were laced with dark amusement at Elizabeth's suffering as they watched her limp away.
"Must… get… away…" Elizabeth stumbled forward as her breathing became labored. Blood poured from her wound like a waterfall of red dye as she gasped for air.
The three spirits descended to the ground, raising their shadowy blades above their heads. The cold aura surrounding them seemed to intensify as they relished the sight of their weakening prey.
One of the spirits suddenly darted forward with predatory speed, aiming their blade directly at Elizabeth's heart. The other spirits follow closely behind as their movements become synchronized and lethal.
"No…" She limped forward, gasping for air as she turned around, watching them chase after her. Fear filled Liz's eyes until the inevitable happened. "Aaaghh!" With a bloodcurdling scream, the three Spirits of Oblivion stabbed her together. Each stab sent waves of excruciating pain through her body as her blood squirted into the air.
"Kaah haw haw!" Their laughter grew louder and more maniacal with each thrust, filling the forest with a chilling cacophony. Elizabeth's strength started to wane as she fell to her knees, widening her eyes in disbelief.
She was unable to defend herself against the brutal assault, and only accepted her fate, though… there was something… or rather… someone who intervened.
["You fool. Is this how you'll be defeated? By some miserable pests of Oblivion?"]
Out of nowhere, a voice echoed in Elizabeth's head. It was deep and feminine, yet sinister and otherworldly.
The spirits continued stabbing her until her body became numb from the overwhelming pain. Elizabeth could only stare straight ahead with emotionless eyes.
("I…I can't win… I'm… weak… I'm gonna die…")
She responded to the voice, but it laughed.
["Bwa ha ha! Yes, you're right indeed! You're but a weakling, Elizabeth Rozenheart. You need me to survive. You need me to thrive. You need me to fight!"]
Elizabeth slowly shook her head.
("No… I don't need you… leave me alone… you already ruined my life… no more…")
["I'm afraid you're too weak to stop me from taking over your body. Our mind is one."]
"Don't…" Elizabeth muttered from her breath, feeling her consciousness waver, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.
["Your body is mine…"]
Elizabeth sat on her knees, mortally wounded, and surrounded by the laughter of spirits. Everything was blank… until an extraordinary phenomenon occurred.
Her body started to glow with an intense white light, emanating deep within her nucleus. Tribal tattoos suddenly appeared across her skin, pulsing with dark mana. The tattoos spread along her skin in bodily horror until they became black, and engraved in her flesh. Her fingernails grew longer and sharper, taking on a metallic sheen as her hair started to float upward, elongating from her scalp.
Slowly, but surely, her white hair reached down to her waist and the spirits' laughter abruptly stopped, sensing the sudden surge of power.
Elizabeth's body rose into the air, surrounded by an aura of dark mana. Her eyes snapped open, showing a pair of red eyes with slits in the middle, akin to a feline.
The transformation was complete. Elizabeth Rozenheart resembled that of a fierce demon, ready to unleash their fury.
Turning to face the spirits in midair, she outstretched her arms to each side of her body, grinning at their bewildered movements.
"I must thank you Qlippoth for freeing me after so long… it's been a while since I last seen the outside." Her voice changed. It was no longer the energetic, airheaded Elizabeth that everyone knew and loved. It was something far more sinister. "Rejoice, Spirits of Oblivion, the Queen of Hel has returned! Bwa ha ha!!"